O.J. Simpson's Footballs Intercepted in Court

Like Jake Gittes' Chinatown, nothing is ever what it seems in O.J. Simpson Land. Simpson, of course, was sentened last year from nine to 33 years in prison for using muscle and guns in a Las Vegas hotel room to get back memorabilia he claimed belonged to him. According to Associated Press' Linda Deutsch, an irony to this is that now a judge has declared the disputed property really did belong to Simpson. But then things become weirder still. In a judicial twist Tuesday, L.A. Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled that the property must be returned to the imprisoned Simpson.

Well, make that most of the memorabilia items. Nine footballs, Rosenberg said, should go to Fred Goldman as part of the restitution Goldman won from Simpson in a civil suit stemming from the 1994 slaying of Goldman's son, Ron, and Simpson's former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. That would seem to be the end of it, except that Judge Rosenberg also said Simpson is entitled, due to a legal exemption, to the first $6,075 of any proceeds generated by the footballs' sale by Goldman.

Goldman's attorney, David Cook, then asked Simpson to donate that

$6,075 to the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice. Simpson's lawyer, to